Trustee: More to worry about at Michigan State than 'just this Nassar thing'

A 15-year-old girl says Michigan State University is still billing her for medical appointments during which she says sports doctor Larry Nassar sexually assaulted her. He faces prison time of at least 25-40 years for molestation. (January 22)
AP

As pressure mounts on MSU president Lou Anna Simon, trustee Joel Ferguson said the board took 10 minutes of 5-hour meeting to decide she stays

As calls mount for Lou Anna Simon to step down as president of Michigan State University in the wake of the Larry Nassar sex abuse scandal, trustee Joel Ferguson, the vice chairman of the board, is adamant it won't happen.

"That will not happen. Period," Ferguson said on "Staudt on Sports," a radio program on WVFN-AM (730). "She’s a fighter. Her overall, what she’s done for this university, she’s not going to get ran out of there by what somebody else did.

"I’ve been on the board for 30 years and she by far is the best president we’ve ever had."

The radio interview comes days after the MSU Board of Trustees put support behind Simon despite growing pressure from students and alumni that Simon must depart after 13 years as university president. Mitch Lyons was the only trustee to call for Simon's resignation.

Ferguson said it was a quick decision for the board as a whole to support Simon.

"The meeting we had the other day was five hours. And talking Lou Anna was 10 minutes," he said, later saying: "We unanimously decided in that meeting right away … we were going to support her staying as president.

"There’s so many more things going on at the university than just this Nassar thing."

Fellow MSU trustee Mitch Lyons, in a statement sent to the Free Press, said Ferguson's description of the meeting wasn't true.

"My recollection of Friday's meeting was that the majority of the five hours was spent on Nassar and how we move forward. I expressed my view that President Simon can't survive this."

Nassar, 54, pleaded guilty in November to 10 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, with seven in Ingham County and three in Eaton County. The low end of his sentence will be between 25 and 40 years in prison, and the maximum could be up to life.

Meanwhile, Ferguson insists the scandal won't tarnish Simon's legacy as university president, that it's "wrong" to even talk about the possibility of Simon retiring, and is confident that the attorney-general investigation into MSU will find its "senior people are not complicit in what this pervert did."

"I mean, when you go to the basketball game, you walk into the new Breslin, and the person who hustled and got all those major donors to give money was Lou Anna Simon," Ferguson said. "There’s just so many things that make up being president at a university that keeps everything moving and everything right with the deans, everything at a school where we have a waiting list of students who want to come."

Ferguson also said the board has had many major donors and alumni send communications expressing support for Simon and what the trustees are trying to do.

"The young ladies who have been wronged by this person, I think that … they will ... you can never use money to completely make over people’s pain and suffering, but there’s going to be something happening in their favor," he said. "I think that when people find out that this person was on an island by himself, i think they’ll move on, we’ll keep the university moving and I think with the president, we have. She’ll continue to do a great job."

"This is not Penn State," he said, referring to the Jerry Sandusky sex abuse scandal from several years ago. "They were dealing with their football program. ... They're smart enough to know they're not competent to walk in here on this."

Former gymnast Rachael Denhollander looks on as attorney John Manly speaks at a press conference at the Radisson Hotel in downtown Lansing after former gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar pleaded guilty to seven sexual assault charges. Denhollander was the first to go public with abuse allegations against the former doctor.
Matthew Dae Smith/Lansing State Journal

Lisa Lorincz looks over at her 18 year old daughter Kaylee Lorincz, who spoke publicly for the first time about former gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar Wednesday, Nov. 22, 2017, during a press conference at The Radisson in downtown Lansing.
Matthew Dae Smith/Lansing State Journal

18 year old Adrian College gymnast Kaylee Lorincz speaks publicly for the first time about former gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar at a press conference following his plea hearing.
Matthew Dae Smith/Lansing State Journal